diff --git a/ebpf/ebpf_rss-stub.c b/ebpf/ebpf_rss-stub.c
index d0e7f99fb9..11729f3d8f 100644
--- a/ebpf/ebpf_rss-stub.c
+++ b/ebpf/ebpf_rss-stub.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ bool ebpf_rss_is_loaded(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx)
 
 bool ebpf_rss_load(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx, Error **errp)
 {
+    error_setg(errp, "eBPF support is not compiled in");
     return false;
 }
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ bool ebpf_rss_load_fds(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx, int program_fd,
                        int config_fd, int toeplitz_fd, int table_fd,
                        Error **errp)
 {
+    error_setg(errp, "eBPF support is not compiled in");
     return false;
 }
 
@@ -39,7 +41,7 @@ bool ebpf_rss_set_all(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx, struct EBPFRSSConfig *config,
                       uint16_t *indirections_table, uint8_t *toeplitz_key,
                       Error **errp)
 {
-    return false;
+    abort();
 }
 
 void ebpf_rss_unload(struct EBPFRSSContext *ctx)